Countless entrepreneurs keep their entrepreneurship dreams on hold because they’re unsure of how to deal with suppliers.
If you are just about to start your e-commerce business, you probably hesitate to approach suppliers too because you’re not sure if they’ll take you seriously.
In truth, suppliers are business owners like yourself. They want the same things as all businesses do: more sales, less risk, and reliable payments.
The risk appetite for suppliers depends on four things:
- The size of the order in dollar terms
- The past relationship with the buyer
- The payment terms for the order (upfront payment equals lower risk)
- Marimea, reputation, and seriousness of the buyer
For new businesses, atragerea furnizorilor este doar o chestiune de reducere a expunerii acestora la risc. Cel mai simplu mod de a face acest lucru este oferind să plătiți în avans. Furnizorilor nu le va păsa de dimensiunea sau vârsta afacerii dvs. atâta timp cât sunt plătiți.
Pe lângă plățile în avans, de asemenea, vă puteți arăta legitimitatea prin:
- Folosind o adresă de e-mail a companiei („numele tău@site-ul web.com” în loc de „numele tău@yahoo.com”)
- Având un site web. Chiar și un simplu gratuit Site instantaneu va ajuta.
- Încorporarea afacerii dvs. și devenirea necesară numere de taxă
- Folosind un profesionist, serious tone in your emails
- Knowing what you want. Being clueless is a clear sign of an amateur business owner.
Below, we’ll show you how to deal with different suppliers based on your business model.
Legate de: Should You Make, Manufacture, Wholesale or Dropship Your Product?
How to Approach Wholesale Suppliers
In the wholesale model, you buy products from a large supplier at low rates. You then sell them to customers at retail rates. Wholesalers might carry a single product-type (such as socks) or a range of products from different brands.
Since you are paying upfront for the product, the wholesaler’s risk is almost non-existent.
It doesn’t matter whether you have a great website or no website. As long as the seller gets paid, he’ll be happy to work with you.
De fapt, a number of wholesalers even operate online stores. You can buy from these stores just as you would buy from Amazon.
This wholesale supplier sells on Site-ul Ecwid Instant
The shopping process is the same as any e-commerce store. You can add the product to your cart, enter your shipping details and make the payment. At no point are you asked for your business details at all.
in orice caz, not every wholesaler operates the same way. Some operate a customer-facing website where you can order limited quantities (as low as 1 item) la retail prices. To get wholesale rates, you have to create a “wholesale” account. This often requires submitting your tax information.
At DyeMurex.com, you have to create a wholesale account to get wholesale prices. You can also buy smaller quantities, but you’ll have to pay retail prices for it.
DyeMurex, a t-shirt wholesaler, requires a US tax ID to access wholesale pricing
To create a wholesale account at Dyemurex, you need a US tax number. If you are outside the US, you have to have a valid website and/or social media presence. This requirement will vary from supplier to supplier and country to country. Consult your country’s local tax laws on how to get a tax number.
Not every wholesaler maintains websites where you can order products. And few wholesalers offer their best possible rates and sales terms through their websites. In such cases, you have to communicate with wholesalers directly and strike a deal. Here’s how to do it.
1. Find a sufficient number of wholesale suppliers
Step one is to find a number of target wholesalers. In Statele Unite ale Americii, you can use websites like WholesaleCentral.com și TopTenWholesale.com to find wholesale suppliers. You can also use TSNN’s search to find trade shows and visit suppliers in person.
2. Filter the reliable ones
Înainte de a petrece orice timp comunicând cu angrosiştii, evaluați dacă se potrivesc cerințelor și standardelor dvs:
- Verificați dacă au exact produsele dorite.
- Verificați dacă au precizat cantitățile minime de comandă (MOQ) si preturi. Acest lucru este de obicei negociabil, in orice caz.
- Verificați recenziile lor pe Better Business Bureau prin căutarea numelui companiei (pentru noi, Afaceri cu sediul în Canada sau Mexic).
- Google numele companiei lor pentru a verifica rapoartele de fraudă, recenzii și comentarii de la clienții existenți.
Once you are fairly certain that you’re dealing with a reputable company, proceed to the next step.
3. Communicate your requirements
This is the part where most new entrepreneurs hesitate, especially if they don’t have a website or store.
The trick is to portray confidence. You don’t have to lie, but it doesn’t hurt to project an image of being slightly bigger than you are. Your objective is to get the best possible deal, dupa toate acestea.
This confidence is conveyed in the length, ton, and content of your communication. Be concise and exact in your messages. Make it clear that you know what you want.
This wholesale email template works because it is clear and professional
There are a few tactics you can use to make your emails more persuasive:
- Order volume: Wholesalers are a volume business. The higher volume you buy, the more negotiating power you have. Lure them in by asking for prices for a range of order quantities (Spune, 100-10,000).
- Don’t email yourself: Majoritatea afacerilor cu amănuntul mai mari au agenți de achiziții care se ocupă de achiziții. În e-mailul tău, identificați-vă ca „director de achiziții” sau „agent de achiziții” în loc de „fondator/CEO”.
- Utilizați o adresă de e-mail a companiei: Chiar dacă nu aveți un site web, puteți obține în continuare o adresă de e-mail la propriul domeniu (cum ar fi „prenume@company.com”) folosind servicii precum aplicatii Google.
Odată ce ai informațiile de care ai nevoie, puteți negocia pentru condiții mai bune, cum ar fi plăți Net-30 (adică. plata mărfurilor după 30 zile de la primire) or lower prices for higher order volumes.
Wholesalers sometimes offer drop shipping services as well. We’ll show you how to deal with them in the next section.
How to Approach Dropship Suppliers
Dropshipping is when you act as the retail arm of a manufacturer or wholesaler. Instead of buying and stocking products yourself, you only sell the product to customers. Your drop shipping partner takes care of fulfilling the order, usually under your own brand name.
On paper, the higher involvement of drop shippers means higher requirements from retailers as well. In reality, the intense competition among drop shippers means that drop shippers have to fight hard to win over retailers.
This intense competition has led to the fragmentation of the market into two categories. This brings us to the first tip.
1. Understand who you’re dealing with
The options include drop shipping aggregators and wholesale drop shippers.
Dropshipping aggregators sunt site-uri web care vă oferă acces la sute de furnizori de drop shipping de pe o singură platformă. Exemplele includ Syncee, Spocket, Sup Dropshipping, Vârstă, SaleHoo, etc. Acești agregatori percep de obicei o taxă în avans pentru a accesa furnizorii. De asemenea, oferă plugin-uri și API-uri pentru a importa cu ușurință produse în magazinul dvs.
Iată câteva lucruri pe care trebuie să le știți despre gestionarea agregatorilor de drop shipping:
- Înregistrare ușoară: Agregatorii sunt ușor de înregistrat și necesită doar un e-mail. Nu trebuie să aveți un magazin, website or even a business email to get started.
- Higher prices: Since you can’t negotiate with individual suppliers, you will have to pay the fixed price offered by the aggregator. This usually means higher prices and thus, lower profit margins.
- Monthly fee: Most aggregators charge a monthly fee. This can eat into your margins if you’re just starting out.
Dropshipping aggregators are an easy way to start selling. in orice caz, use them only as a stop-gap approach. Once you have a proper store and a history of sales, este mai bine să abordați expeditorii individuali și să obțineți oferte mai bune.
Expeditori de picături cu ridicata sunt angrosisti care oferă, de asemenea, servicii de livrare drop-down unor câțiva comercianți selectați. Marea majoritate a expeditorilor drop se încadrează în această categorie. De obicei, acestea acoperă un singur tip de produs, cum ar fi cuțitele sau echipamentul sportiv.
Pentru a lucra cu acești expeditori, va trebui să creați un cont cu ridicata și să furnizați informațiile despre afacerea dvs. Aveți acces la catalog numai după ce expeditorul drop îți aprobă contul.
Most small-time drop shippers do this to discourage one-time bargain hunters. Some drop shippers like MagnumTuning even mention this on their sign-up page:
MagnumTuning requires approval for each application to discourage discount shoppers
Many drop shippers will be happy to waive off approval requirements if you place a large initial order or send them deposit money. Having a seller’s permit or sales tax number is also helpful.
While the signup process is harder, you get much better rates than drop shipping aggregators.
In some industries such as t-shirt printing, drop shippers have easier requirements. De exemplu, Printful gives free access to any retailer regardless of volume (și integrates with Ecwid.)
Product types you can drop ship with Ecwid and Printful
Once your business is ready, this is the right way to go if you want to drop ship. If you’re using Ecwid, poți folosi WholesaleB2B app to make integration with drop shippers easier.
De asemenea, check out more dropshipping services that can be integrated with your Ecwid store.
2. Ask the right questions
Iată câteva întrebări pe care le puteți adăuga la șablonul de e-mail afișat mai sus dacă contactați un potențial expeditor:
- Care sunt costurile și politicile dvs. de transport?
- Ce fel de metode de plată acceptați?
- Oferiți un API sau o metodă automată pentru a plasa comenzi noi?
- Sub ce nume de marcă va fi expediată comanda?
- Vrei (al expeditorului drop) numele apare pe ambalaj?
- Cât timp durează procesarea și expedierea unei comenzi către {piața dvs. principală}?
- Pot folosi imaginile și descrierile produselor dvs. pe site-ul meu?
- What kind of tax information and permits do you require from retailers?
- What is your policy for damaged and returned products?
Besides wholesalers and drop shippers, you can also source products from manufacturers.
How to Approach Manufacturers
Manufacturers are companies that can:
- Help you make your own products, sau
- Sell you their manufactured products at wholesale prices.
Manufacturers are different from wholesalers and drop shippers in that they have high order requirements and significantly lower prices. Since each order is made from scratch, most manufacturers require an upfront payment to cover the manufacturing cost.
The upfront payment means that most manufacturers are very flexible in who they work with. The nature of manufacturing is also such that it attracts a lot of entrepreneurs trying out new ideas who might not have websites or sales.
prin urmare, most manufacturers are easy to work with as long as you meet their minimum order requirements.
Legate de: How To Find a Manufacturer for Your Product Idea
There are a few things you should keep in mind when approaching them.
1. Ask about minimum order quantity (MOQ) and deposit
Manufacturing costs go down as the volume increases. prin urmare, MOQ is one of the most important metrics when dealing with manufacturers.
Ask about the manufacturer’s MOQ in the first email you send them. Don’t waste time dealing with a manufacturer who has higher MOQ than your requirements.
If you’re taking the Alibaba route, most manufacturers would list their MOQ on their profile itself.
Majoritatea producătorilor de pe AliBaba își vor afișa MOQ-ul pe pagina produsului în sine
Unii producători s-ar putea să nu aibă de-a face cu noi afaceri care sunt interesate doar de volumul minim de comenzi posibil. Pentru a ocoli această problemă, solicitați prețuri pentru o serie de volume de comandă (Spune, MOQ la 50,000 unitati).
De asemenea, întrebați ce fel de depozit în avans va solicita producătorul pentru a începe producția (și procesul de rambursare în cazul unei dispute).
Legate de: Lista de verificare: Cum să găsiți furnizorul potrivit pe AliExpress
2. Întrebați despre capacitatea de producție, Transport, și ambalaj
The manufacturing capacity and shipping time are two important factors in choosing a manufacturing partner. Not asking about these might set off red flags for the manufacturer.
So in your email, ask about the following:
- The number of pieces they can manufacture in a day
- Where the products will be shipped from/shipped to
- Expected shipping time and carriers used
- What kind of packaging will they use
- Any customization (on packaging or product) offered
- Extra value added services (such as Amazon FBA selling) offered
3. Ask for samples
No serious business will choose a manufacturer without asking for product samples.
Manufacturers expect this. În e-mailul tău, make sure that you ask for a product sample. This will not only help you evaluate the manufacturer, but it will also show that you are serious about the business.
4. Ask more about the company and the factory
This includes:
- The age of the company
- The number of employees
- The size of the factory and its location
- Pictures of the factory
If possible, ask for a Skype tour of the factory. Din nou, most legitimate manufacturers will be happy to provide this information.
To Sum Up
Whether you are looking for a wholesale supplier, a dropship supplier or a manufacturer, remember to do the following:
- Get a free Site instantaneu.
- Do not make a deal with the first supplier you find.
- Portray confidence and professionalism.
- Ask a lot of questions.
- Negotiate to get the best deals.
- How to Find Distributors for Your Product
- How To Find a Manufacturer for Your Product Idea
- Where to Find a Wholesale Supplier for Your Online Store
- The Science of Contacting Suppliers When You’re Starting a Business
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